Employer health plans · California
Employer health plans in California
How California employers fund their health plans and which carriers insure them.
2024 plan filings
Employer health plans in California at a glance
Employer plan filings, 2024
Large employer health plans
7,635
form year 2024
Fully insured
6,525
85% of large plans
Self-funded
1,036
8% with stop-loss
Small plans
307
fewer details reported
Median premium per person covered
$7,612
insured contracts, all carriers
Insurance carriers for California employer health plans
Insured large plans by carrier group, form year 2024
| Carrier | Plans | Share | Persons covered | Median premium / person | Median broker % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser Permanente | 3,845 | 59% | 2,561,292 | $7,918 | 4.6% |
| Anthem (Elevance Health) | 1,448 | 22% | 1,358,921 | $7,794 | 5.2% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | 1,178 | 18% | 503,677 | $8,573 | 5.3% |
| Cigna | 945 | 14% | 1,301,106 | $4,568 | 6.4% |
| UnitedHealthcare | 849 | 13% | 431,887 | $6,155 | 5.2% |
| Aetna | 800 | 12% | 1,208,434 | $7,192 | 5.0% |
| Humana | 19 | 0% | 5,184 | $749 | 11.6% |
Fully insured vs self-funded
Large employer health plans, 2020–2024
| Form year | Large plans | Insured | Self-funded | Self-funded share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7,789 | 6,641 | 1,064 | 14% |
| 2021 | 7,583 | 6,494 | 1,022 | 13% |
| 2022 | 7,750 | 6,620 | 1,047 | 14% |
| 2023 | 7,811 | 6,680 | 1,056 | 14% |
| 2024 | 7,635 | 6,525 | 1,036 | 14% |
| 2025 (partial) | 5,394 | 4,500 | 828 | 15% |
Methodology
How these numbers are calculated
- Sources: employer health plan filings for 2020–2024 (2025 is still coming in and is labelled partial), negotiated rates published by health insurers and hospitals (2026), and Medicare fee schedules for reference.
- Which plans count: large employer health plans, placed in the state of the employer's business address. A carrier's figures count plans with a major-medical insurance contract with that carrier. Self-funded plans that a carrier only administers are not counted under that carrier, and supplemental coverage (dental, vision, accident, hospital indemnity) is excluded.
- Premium per person covered: premium divided by the persons covered on the contract, for contracts covering at least 20 persons.
- Broker pay: commissions and fees paid on each contract, as a share of that contract's premium.
- Network rates: physician negotiated rates for the Employer 50 services, from a sample of providers, shown as a percentage of Medicare. Shown only where the network passes Medlyze's quality checks for the state.
- Hospital prices: commercial negotiated rates (2026) for the whole hospital stay or the hospital's facility charge. Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and individual-market rates are excluded, and so is Humana, whose hospital rates are almost all Medicare. Physician, anesthesia and implant charges are separate.
- Not a judgement: differences describe the plans and rates analyzed. They are not findings about any employer, carrier or broker, and they say nothing about quality or value.
Get the full figures
Brokers: an Employer Account Brief on one employer, or a Prospect List for this market. Employers: a Plan Cost Benchmark for your own plan, with every hospital near your people.